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The man, the myth, and the molars.
An Egyptian “strong man” and wrestler known for his staggering show of muscle dragged a 700-ton ship across the Red Sea using nothing but a rope clenched in his teeth.
Ashraf Mahrous, also known to fans across Egypt as “Kabonga,” accomplished the stunt Saturday in the coastal city of Hurghada.
“Today, I have come to break the world record,” Mahrous said in an interview in Egypt’s Red Sea resort after the challenge.
After pulling the 700-ton ship, the 44-year-old native of the port city of Ismalia then pulled two ships weighing approximately 1,150 tons together to prove his superhuman strength.
“I pulled them both, thanks to God, to prove to my friends and the whole world that God blessed me by being the strongest man in the world,” Mahrous said.
The current Guinness World Record is a 614-ton ship set in 2018, Mahrous said. He intends to send videos and photos of his attempt to Guinness World Records to officially evaluate if he shattered the record.
Mahrous, who is also president of the Egyptian Federation for Professional Wrestlers, has left crowds in awe before by pulling a train, a locomotive, and a truck.
With each achievement, his popularity has soared. Children run after him in the streets, where he’s known simply as “strong man.”
Years ago, he managed to haul a 4,000-ton ship using a rope strapped to his shoulders, but this time it was all teeth.
“I grunted and yelled as I pulled the ship, and I spoke to it, saying, ‘It’s either me or you today,’” he told The Associated Press recently at his gym in Cairo.
“It’s important for me to treat the object that I will pull as part of my body that moves along with my heartbeat,” he said, noting it is a ritual of his to talk to the objects he moves before attempting to move them.
Towering at 6-foot-3 and weighing 341 pounds, Mahrous trained for the moment with a hefty diet of a dozen eggs, two chickens, and 11 pounds of fish per day — all while training for two hours, three times a day.
Despite dragging tons with his teeth, Mahrous doesn’t go to the dentist. He uses a mouthguard during his stunts and a natural twig called a miswak to keep his iron teeth in shape.
Already a certified Guinness titleholder for the heaviest rail pull and the heaviest locomotive pull, Mahrous has set his eyes on breaking other jaw-dropping records.
Next, he plans to send a request to the Egyptian presidency for permission to pull a 263,000-ton submarine.
He also hopes someday to pull a plane using only his eyelid muscles.
With Post wires.
